Today's News

(This lead paragraph is presented to you by a company selling a revolutionary weight-loss pill.)

I remember watching sports on TV when most of what you saw was athletic competition.

(These transition paragraphs are brought to you by a beer company.)

Now it seems every five minutes of a sports program on TV—and especially on radio—is interrupted with the announcement that some part of it has been paid for or presented by or sponsored by a Fortune 500 company (or, since the stock market crash, the Fortunate 400-Or-So companies.)

MARSHVILLE—The third-seeded Marshville Forest Hills Yellow Jackets ended South Brunswick’s football season Friday night in the third round of the NCHSAA Class 2-AA playoffs. The 11th-seeded South Brunswick Cougars, playing without injured quarterback Zack Alcorn, lost 35-14.

Alcorn suffered a knee injury in the Cougars’ playoff victory the previous week over Orange High School.

To those who thought the North Brunswick High School junior varsity football team would be unable to repeat its county and conference champions, the Scorpions proved everyone wrong.

North completed another stellar season Nov. 6 when it beat West Bruswick 26-0. The victory completed a sweep of county teams (North beat South 34-20) and gave it a record of 9-1. The only loss was to Whiteville—ending an 18-game winning streak—and the two teams finished the season tied for first at 5-1 in the Waccamaw Conference.

According to results from the speedway, Clay Gossett was first and Dean Cumbee second in the Nov. 22 race. Kent Bellamy was third, David Hatchell fourth and two-time track champion Tommy Poole fifth.

In Mini-Stocks, Brian Powell was first, followed by Lucas Williams, Chad Campbell and track champion Dub Fulford of Shallotte. Harry Floyd, of Ash, was seventh; Jason Floyd, of Ash, ninth; and Willie Fulford of Supply, 10th, in the 27-car race.

This is the third year the North Carolina Division of Public Health is promoting a holiday weight challenge.

All North Carolinians are encouraged to maintain their current weight during the upcoming holiday season. The challenge will be referred to as “Eat Smart, Move More... Maintain, Don’t Gain.” You can join the six-week online challenge for free at: www.MyEatSmartMoveMore.com.

You will receive a free weekly newsletter full of tips, ideas, recipes and other helpful tracking tools. To help you get started for the holidays, try the following tips:

The North Carolina School Start Coalition has unveiled a new Web site, ncschoolstart.org, to inform voters and legislators of what the coalition says is the need to maintain the state’s school calendar law.

Tourism officials say the law has had a positive effect on Brunswick County, and they are supporting the coalition’s efforts.

A fundraiser has been planned for Ken Stanley and his son Elijah, whose home burned down in a fire Nov. 17.

Ken’s wife, Joan Stanley, 49, died in the fire, and their Hen Cove Avenue home was destroyed. While the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, investigators believe it was a cooking related fire, which originated in the kitchen.

Alan Lewis, Shallotte alderman and president of East Coast Engineering and Surveying in Shallotte, said East Coast Engineering has organized a fundraiser to help the Stanley family.